What a scene! What an exciting game! The true, classic college football fall afternoon, sunny, 55° at kickoff, a blue sky only full of Goodyear, the 80,000 seat stadium only a bit changed from the 20s, the fans, the bands, the leprechaun, the cheerleaders, and two football teams. Notre Dame, 120 proud years of football history, a winner over Navy for 43 straight years (a record), since the storied days of Roger Staubach. Navy, equally proud, but not often in ND’s league, though always their equal, or better, in heart and fight.

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For 43 years, that Navy pride hasn’t been enough. Today, catching an Irish team nosediving through a one-win season, the heart, the fight, and the chops were all there, and five-thousand visiting Navy fans were privileged to see it happen, all 60 minutes of regulation and three, count ’em, three overtime periods worth.

A classic day for this lifelong football, and near-lifelong Navy football fan.

Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, the ecstatic individual pictured at the right, is Navy’s quarterback, so in addition to his athletic prowess, he’s a student at one of the most demanding institutions of higher education in the U.S., Unlike most highly qualified college football players, he knows that even if he dreams of an after-college future playing on the professional level, he knows that, like Roger Staubach and David Robinson and many other standouts before him, any professional athletic career will only begin after he concludes his career as an officer in the United States Navy.

College student, accomplished athlete, dedicated patriot. What’s not to love about an institution filled with them?